Hartford Investment Management Co. Reduces Stock Holdings in Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV)

Hartford Investment Management Co. cut its position in shares of Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV) by 2.1% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 14,595 shares of the company’s stock after selling 314 shares during the quarter. Hartford Investment Management Co.’s holdings in Elevance Health were worth $7,589,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in ELV. Bank & Trust Co purchased a new position in Elevance Health in the second quarter worth approximately $27,000. Palisade Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Elevance Health during the 1st quarter worth $28,000. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Elevance Health during the 2nd quarter worth about $28,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC purchased a new stake in Elevance Health in the 2nd quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, Eastern Bank purchased a new position in Elevance Health during the third quarter worth about $31,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.24% of the company’s stock.

Elevance Health Stock Down 0.6 %

ELV traded down $2.34 on Wednesday, reaching $417.50. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 106,031 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,084,986. The company has a quick ratio of 1.49, a current ratio of 1.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. Elevance Health, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $397.98 and a fifty-two week high of $567.26. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $522.44 and a two-hundred day moving average of $526.65. The company has a market capitalization of $97.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.87, a P/E/G ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 0.82.

Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The company reported $8.37 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $9.66 by ($1.29). Elevance Health had a return on equity of 20.64% and a net margin of 3.89%. The company had revenue of $44.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $43.47 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $8.99 earnings per share. Elevance Health’s revenue was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Elevance Health, Inc. will post 37.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Elevance Health Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 5th will be paid a dividend of $1.63 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 5th. This represents a $6.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.56%. Elevance Health’s dividend payout ratio is presently 24.64%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on shares of Elevance Health from $585.00 to $478.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 18th. Wells Fargo & Company restated a “buy” rating on shares of Elevance Health in a research report on Friday. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Elevance Health from $643.00 to $551.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Bank of America restated a “neutral” rating and set a $530.00 target price (down from $646.00) on shares of Elevance Health in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Elevance Health from $605.00 to $555.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $551.07.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Charles Morgan Kendrick, Jr. sold 7,417 shares of Elevance Health stock in a transaction on Friday, October 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $432.14, for a total value of $3,205,182.38. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 8,423 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,639,915.22. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Elevance Health news, EVP Charles Morgan Kendrick, Jr. sold 7,417 shares of Elevance Health stock in a transaction on Friday, October 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $432.14, for a total value of $3,205,182.38. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 8,423 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,639,915.22. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Ramiro G. Peru sold 753 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $531.52, for a total transaction of $400,234.56. Following the sale, the director now owns 8,744 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,647,610.88. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.35% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Elevance Health Company Profile

Elevance Health, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a health benefits company in the United States. The company operates through four segments: Health Benefits, CarelonRx, Carelon Services, and Corporate & Other. It offers a variety of health plans and services to program members; health products; an array of fee-based administrative managed care services; and specialty and other insurance products and services, such as stop loss, dental, vision, life, disability, and supplemental health insurance benefits.